Water valve



Patented Dec. 26, 1933 WATER VALVE George H. Fuehrer, Easton, Pa.. assignor to Ingersoll-Rand Company, Jersey City, N. 'J., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 28, 1922. Serial No. 607,980

1 Claim. (01. 251-44) r This invention relates to valves, and more particularly to water valves for rock drills equipped with means for flushing the cuttings from the drill hole.

5 One object of the invention-is to assure the introduction of cleansing water to the drill hole throughout the entire operative period of the rock drill.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts,

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a rock drill to which the'invention is applied, and

Figure 2 is a transverse view taken through Figure 1 on the line 2-2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

the rock drill A comprises a cylinder B, only a portion of which is shown, and a back head C which acts as a closure for the rear end of the cylinder B and to which it may be secured by side bolts D arranged on opposite sides of the rock drill.

Within the cylinder B is a piston chamber E to accommodate a reciprocatory hammer piston F whereby the working implement (not shown) is actuated.

In the rear end of the cylinder B is an enlarged bore G to accommodate rotation mechanism H, of a well known type adapted to effect rotary movement of the working implement, and valve mechanism J for distributing pressure fluid u to the ends of the piston chamber E to actuate the piston F.

The back head C also'serves as a casing for a throttle valve K which controls the admission of pressure fluid to the valve mechanism J. The throttle valve K may, as illustrated, be in the form of a cylindrical plug having a recess L into which pressure fluid may be constantly introduced by a connection Oleading from a source of supply, and on an end of the throttle valve is a lever P whereby it may be manipulated. In the wall of the throttle valve and leading from the recess L is a laterally extending port or passage Q which, in the open position of the throttle valve, registers with a supply passage R extending through the back head C and the rotation mechanism H to the valve mechanism J.

In accordance with a well known practice, the rock drill A is provided with a tube 8 for conveying water into the working implement through which the water passes to flush the cuttings from the drill hole. The tube 8 extends through the rotation and valve mechanisms and through the cylinder and carries at its rear end a flange T which lies in a recess U in the back head C. The outer portion of the recess U is suitably threaded to accommodate a plug V which seats against the flange L for clamping the tube S fixedly in position. In the end of the plug V adjacent the flange T is a passage W having a branch X to aiIord communication between the recess U and the bore in the tube S.

The water which the tube S is intended to convey to the working implement is supplied to the rock drill by a connection Y threaded into the end of a passage Z in the back head C. In accordance with the present invention, the passage Z opens into a bore b which is located in the back head C and extends laterally oi the throttle valve K. Into the outer end of the bore b is threaded a plug 0 having a passage (1 to convey the water to a passage e leading from the bore 12 to the recess U. I

Disposed in the inner end of the bore b is a guide bushing having a bore a to slidably receive a plunger 71. which extends with one end into the chamber 4 wherein the throttle valve K is arranged, and on the throttle valve K is a cam surface It to act against the adjacent end of the plunger 7; for actuating the plunger in the direction of the plug 0.

Near the opposite end oi. the plunger h is an external bevelled shoulder 0 adapted to seat against a seating surface p on the guide member to efiect a seal at this point for preventing leakage or water through the bore g into the throttle valve chamber 1'. The plunger 72. is, moreover, provided with a recess q for the accommodation of a needle valve 1' arranged coaxially with the outlet end of, the passage d and wherewith it cooperates to control the flow of water from the passage d to the passage e.

In order to prevent injury to the needle valve 1', such as might be caused by pressing the needle valve forcibly against the plug 0 a spring 3 is disposed in the recess q to transmit the movement 10 of the plunger h to the needle valve. The needle valve r may be held against displacement from the recess q in any suitable manner, as for instance by forming a head t on that portion of the valve which lies within the recess q and peening or rolling the end of the plunger 71. to form a shoulder it against which the head t may seat.

To the end that the needle valve 1' may be promptly opened when the throttle valve K is being rotated to move the cam surface I: out 01 up engagement from the'plunger h a spring'v is disposed in the bore q to seat with one end against the plug 0 and with its other end against the shoulder 0.

The operation of the device briefly described is as follows: By rotating the throttle valve K to the open position the cam surface is will be moved out of contact from the plunger h. The spring 22 will then actuate the plunger to press the shoulder 0 against the seating surface p, thus preventing leakage of water from the bore b through the bore 9 into the throttle valve chamber 7'. Being interlocked with the plunger h the needle valve 1' will be moved therewith to the open position to permit the flow of water from supply through the bore lg and the associated passages into the tube S and the needle valve 1' will be held open by the spring 12 as long as the throttle valve K remains in the open position.

Upon rotation of the throttle valve K to its closed position the cam surface is acts against the end of the plunger h and will actuate the plunger, together with the valve 1', in the direction of the passage d, the outlet end of which it controls. In this way the needle valve r will be promptly closed to cut of! the supply of water to the tube S before the supply of pressure fluid to therock drill has been completely out ofi by the throttle valve K. During the subsequent closing movement 01' the throttle valve K the plunger h compresses the spring s and causes it to exert a sumciently heavy pressure against the needle valve r to assure against leakage oi. water from the passage d into the bore b during the inopera tive periods of the rock drill.

I claim:

Valve mechanism comprising a casing having a bore and inlet and outlet passages opening into the bore, a plunger slidable in the bore and having a recess, a spring-pressed needle valve slidable' in the recess and cooperating with the outlet end of the inlet passage to control communication between the inlet passage and the bore, bevelled sealing surfaces on the plunger and the casing, and a spring in the bore acting against the plunger to open the valve and to maintain the sealing surfaces in sealing relationship with each other during the timethe valve occupies its open position.

GEORGE H. FUEHRER. 

